Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (愛奴) is 1972 Shaw Bros. film. The movie stars Lily Ho and Betty Pei. Both actresses originated from Taiwan.
In context to the year and era this film was released, the subject matter is quite daring. The movie as a whole is a revenge movie. Ainu, played by Lily Ho, is kidnapped from a distant land and sold to a brothel. Ainu is initially very rebellious and causes a lot of trouble. But Ainu eventually forced into the brothel business and her spirit is broken. Betty Pei plays the brothels madam who has no appetite for men. Because this madam is a jiang hu lesbian. The madam and Ainu begin a 2 year relationship. The madam spoils Ainu and eventually teaches her some world class martial arts.
Ainu is in a class of her own in terms of status. Ainu gets to pick whom she takes company with. Ainu eventually starts her revenge process. One at a time, the people that forced her into the brothel business will feel her wrath.
The movie felt very dated to me. Both in subject matter and the fighting. Unfortunately, a lesbian revenge movie is no longer a shocking storyline as compared the year 1972, when it was release. However, the sets were beautiful and the 2 lead actresses kept me engaged. This is considered a classic Shaw movie for its subject matter and beauty.
I have a problem with the English title of the movie. The Chinese title is 愛奴. 愛 is love and 奴 means slave. Put together, it means a love slave. And Lily Ho's character was named 愛奴. How the English title came about is beyond me. Slave and Courtesan hold very different meanings.
No comments:
Post a Comment